xanthium gum in Gluten free items

   Well it's been a little while since I've posted.  This week I was brought back to reality of
my MSG problems by eating too many Gluten Free items in one day that all contained xanthium gum.
Unfortunately this is one of the ingredients used in breads, cookies and cakes to make a soft GF baked good.  I'm okay if I only have, say a sandwich, or a cookie but yesterday I made the mistake of having a sandwich, a cookie and a glass of soda with either natural flavorings or citric acid.  I can't remember which pepsi has in it.  Anyway the cumulative effect of all those items got to me.
   Just so you know xanthium gum is also in almost any salad dressing you pick up because it keeps the ingredients all mixed together so you don't have to go through the huge effort of shaking the bottle before pouring it onto your salad.  So if you are trying to keep MSG out of your daily foods keep in mind a little here and a little there can really add up to a night of not feeling so good.
   And if you are lucky enough to not feel sick from MSG but still want to avoid it as much as possible keep that in mind as well.
   On a happy note I just bought a soda streamer.  You can pick them up at your co-op or online.  It takes a few tries to get the mix just right but I love it.  I didn't buy any of the flavoring since they all had natural flavorings in them but just a dash of organic lemon juice and a little stevia and it makes a really refreshing drink for a lot less money  than buying the sparkling mineral water from germany without any natural flavorings.  Plus you don't have bottles you need to recycle.  The kids love it too, they call it grandma pop
   until next time, happy shopping,
Pame

MSG in Restaurants

All I can say is wow.  It's really hard to avoid MSG when eating out.  Nearly any fast food place uses some form of MSG in their food to make you want it more.  The problem is if one uses it and another doesn't then peoples taste buds tell them that the one that does tastes better so they are losing business if they don't use it too.   It's safer to eat at a sit down restaurant where you can at least ask about the ingredients and they are a bit more willing to tell you what is in their food but they are still learning and maybe not all that eager to share it all with us.

Usually if it's spicy and really tasty you can figure it has MSG in it sadly.  I try to avoid the sauces since they have gluten in them most of the time and I can't have that but they also have MSG in them.   Also a lot of the seasonings contain MSG.  Seems a little boring to avoid all that but if it makes you sick or you simply don't want to put that in your body that's what you have to do.  You find out what you can and can't have and then those are your choices.  I've even gotten used to no salad dressing on salads since most of the dressings either have gluten and or MSG in them.  Now I actually enjoy the flavors of the fresh vegetables in the salad instead of covering it all up with salad dressing.

Our food co-op is good about putting on their labeling in the deli what exactly is in it and that way you can know if you need to avoid it or not.  I wish restaurants were that accommodating.

You can't just ask a restaurant if they use MSG because they will probably tell you no since it's more likely they use the ingredients with flavorings, autolyzed yeast etc. and wouldn't even know that they use MSG.  OF course MSG in full force as Monosodium Glutinate is still used as well.

Well that's my thoughts for this week on MSG.  Hope that helps.
Happy Shopping and eating
Pame

Medications and Supplements with hidden MSG

If you are trying to avoid MSG there are hidden sources you may not have thought of.  Here is some information I got from  Truth in Labeling after I asked them what things to look for when buying medicines, supplements and vitamins.


MSG that will be found in medications including supplements. Processed free glutamic acid (MSG) is mainly found in the binders and fillers used in pharmaceuticals. The most common MSG containing ingredients to be avoided in pharmaceuticals are starch, maltodextrin, dextrose, gelatin (including capsules), and citric acid (citrate). You will find these ingredients listed on product inserts, identified as "inactive ingredients" or "other ingredients." The same ingredients should be looked for in supplements. You should also look for individual amino acids that may be chelated to minerals contained in some supplements. Examples would be magnesium aspartate, magnesium glutamate, and calcium citrate. Also, be aware that some supplement producers now place an asterick (*) following some or all minerals used, with an explanation following the ingredient list that indicates that the mineral is chelated with "a hydrolyzed protein" or "with an an amino acid." All of these are examples of hiding places for MSG. Another source of MSG related to health care would be enteral care products. Enteral care products, used for tube feeding, are typically products in which the protein is hydrolyzed for improved absorption of amino acids. Any protein that is hydrolyzed will have free amino acids, including glutamic acid and aspartic acid." 
   Hope this helps you to rid your shelves of MSG.
Happy Shopping
Pame

Have you noticed

   So have you noticed lately that salad dressings stay mixed up and cream doesn't separate like it used to/
That is because of msg aka xanthium gum in salad dressings and carageenan in creams.  Just another way to get your daily dose of msg and not even know it.
   Ice creams also have msg in them often to help them remain soft.  Have you noticed lately you don't have to take your ice cream out early to soften it up?  Breyers recently added natural flavorings to their ingredient list on their once thought to be safe from msg ice creams so I won't be buying that anymore.
Back to making my own and then I know what goes into it.
   I am noticing that it is harder and harder to avoid msg, it is in everything in small doses and it adds up to a huge doe of MSG at the end of the day if you aren't careful.
   Basically if it has one of those ingredients on it I don't buy it
Below is the list of items from the truth in labeling website for you
I keep this list with me for grocery shopping as well as on my fridge just in case, it's so easy to buy something and miss one of these ingredients or in my case get so caught up in the gluten thing that I miss the MSG thing.
Until next week,
Happy shopping

Names of ingredients that always contain processed free glutamic acid: Glutamic acid (E 620)2,  Glutamate (E 620) Monosodium glutamate (E 621) Monopotassium glutamate (E 622) Calcium glutamate (E 623) Monoammonium glutamate (E 624) Magnesium glutamate (E 625) Natrium glutamate Yeast extract Anything “hydrolyzed” Any “hydrolyzed protein” Calcium caseinate,  Sodium caseinate Yeast food, Yeast nutrient Autolyzed yeast Gelatin Textured protein Soy protein, soy protein concentrate Soy protein isolate Whey protein, whey protein concentrate Whey protein isolate Anything “…protein” Vetsin Ajinomoto

Names of ingredients that often contain or produce processed free glutamic acid: Carrageenan (E 407) Bouillon and broth Stock Any “flavors” or “flavoring” Maltodextrin Citric acid, Citrate (E 330) Anything “ultra-pasteurized” Barley malt Pectin (E 440) Protease Anything “enzyme modified” Anything containing “enzymes” Malt extract Soy sauce Soy sauce extract Anything “protein fortified” Anything “fermented” Seasonings (1) Glutamic acid found in unadulterated protein does not cause adverse reactions.  To cause adverse reactions, the glutamic acid must have been processed/manufactured or come from protein that has been fermented.

The following are ingredients suspected of containing or creating sufficient processed free glutamic acid to serve as MSG-reaction triggers in HIGHLY SENSITIVE people: Corn starch  Corn syrup  Modified food starch  Lipolyzed butter fat  Dextrose Rice syrup Brown rice syrup  Milk powder Reduced fat milk (skim; 1%; 2%)   most things low fat or no fat  anything Enriched anything Vitamin enriched  (2) E numbers are use in Europe in place of food additive names.

Some food to buy, some to avoid

In my usual fashion I guess I should say the foods I found to avoid this week. 

    One is the new kraft mac and cheese with the noodles already cooked, it's in a box.  Amazingly it has monosodium glutinate as an ingredient as well as a couple other names for it.  

   Another is the Muir Glenn Spaghetti Sauce, this is an organic sauce but it has citric acid and sea salt (sadly a new company has added msg to sea salt so you need to call the manufacturer to be sure that their sea salt is not from senomyx)  I am not sure if the sea salt is a problem but I know the sauce effected me.

   On the happy note the thing I found this week Organic Ville Pasta Sauce, no msg that I could find, hurrah.

    If you are looking for more info and input check out truth in labeling on facebook or their website.

Until next week

Happy Shopping

Pame

MSG-Four good rules of thumb for finding MSG in your food

Four good rules of thumb are:

• The more salty a processed food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate. 
• The more processed a food is, the more likely it is to contain MSG or free glutamate:  powdered stuff that used to be food is likely to have added MSG because the original flavor has been degraded, AND processing concentrates and frees glutamate already bound and present.
• The more ingredients in a packaged food, the more likely MSG is present.  Read labels carefully . Time is money.  If a food has more than five ingredients and you don't have half an hour to read one ingredient label - put it back on the shelf - you'll be better off.
• Do not trust something simply because it is in a health food store and the label states it is natural or even organic. The US allows "natural flavors" to include protein hydrolysates which can contain up to 20% MSG by weight.  A distinction without a difference.

   Sadly I just read a post about teas with MSG so I went to my pantry and found several Celestial Seasonings with natural flavors that did not specify what they were.  I sent an email to them but so far have not heard anything.  Is it MSG?  I don't know but if you can't state what your ingredient is and feel it necessary to use obscure ingredients like spices and flavoring etc. I will simply avoid them.  

   On an actions note I sent an email and letter to President Obama asking that labels on our food be made clear for the consumers benefit not the benefit of food producers.  I am challenging anyone who is interested in knowing what is really in their foods to do the same.  Truth in labeling also put forth that challenge for me on their facebook page, thanks.

Until next time

Happy shopping

Pame

MSG -Surprise!!!

Twice this past week I have been duped.
   First I went to a new vietnamese restaurant.  The food was really tasty, then when I got home I was sick.  Oh yeah forgot to worry about MSG, too busy worrying about Gluten (my other food worry)  I had had some of their food at meetings I have attended so I wasn't really worrying about it but guess I had just been lucky before.  Not this time.  I had even told my husband that maybe we should switch to this restaurant because the food was so good, that should have been my first clue. If it's soooo yummy it's probably MSG.
   Then tonight I used my hot stir fry oil I had in the cupboard to stir fry some mushrooms and onions.  Hadn't checked the label on that.  Who would think.  Anyway,  natural flavoring was the culprit.  I had many of the usual symptoms, so I threw that one away.
   Just another lesson in how vigilant we have to be in paying attention to our food ingredients.
On the upside my niece told me of a place in St Louis Park that has good food and no MSG so I am looking forward to trying it out soon.
Happy shopping and eating
Pame

Snacks with MSG

   You've probably thought maybe some MSG is in the chips you love, for instance Dorito's, one of the big offenders.  But you can find it in almost any of the flavored chips you buy.  Flavors such as, cheese, taco, spicy, onion etc. almost always have MSG under another name of cours.  Check yours and see.  It's safer buying the regular unflavored chips, but not always.  Recently I purchased Glutino's Gluten Free pretzels and discovered they have autolyzed yeast, one of those other names for MSG.  Not a spicy flavor just a little salty but I suppose they needed something to make them a bit more tasty.  Sadly you can't assume that an organic brand will be safer.  It isn't.  Red hot blues have spices, natural flavoring and torula yeast, these are all suspect ingredients and of course why they taste soooooo yummy.
    Crackers are the same thing.  If it's spicy, cheesie, ranchy or oniony it will most likely have MSG.  Even annies bunny crackers, at least some of them.  Several of the gluten free crackers have MSG in them so since I am gluten free it makes finding something to snack on even harder.
   You may say it's simply too hard to avoid these things and they don't make me sick so why not.  But if you read elsewhere on MSG you will see that when we start having MSG in so many different foods we buy and restaurant food we eat we are really overloading our brains with this excitotoxin.
   Check out the website below that describes how excitotoxins work
http://www.avoidamigraine.com/
   On a happier note there are a few chips and crackers that don't contain any of the obvious MSG names that I have eaten and been fine with so you can do it.  It's just a bit of a treasure hunt.
   So on that happier thought  I'll talk to you next week
Happy Shopping
Pame

Spices and MSG

   I just wonder when did the FDA start allowing labeling to be so vague as spices or flavorings and not telling us what they are.  And why do we accept that as a food ingredient and not demand that we know what is in our food.  I tried to find out on their website but was unable to.
   I think we have become complacent thinking that someone else will make sure our food is safe for us to eat and we just don't have to worry about it.  Well, we do.  Pretty much if you see spices, flavorings, natural flavorings or seasonings you can be pretty sure there is MSG in that product.  There are of course exceptions but if they don't list the source after those ingredients I don't buy it.  You may say " I am not sensitive to MSG so I don't really worry about it".  But this is something we all need to worry about.  Especially for our children.  Their brains are just developing and MSG works on the brain, it makes us think the food tastes better than it does.  That way companies can use lesser quality foods and we think they are delicious.
    Just take a look at the canned and boxed foods you have in your cupboard.  Even organic foods have MSG in them labeled of course as some other name.  The one I commonly find besides those I listed above is autolyzed yeast.  Once you realize how much of our food has MSG you may feel like it's just something you have to put up with and move on.  But I know we need to stop this practice for all our health.   You might be wondering what the difference is of seeing MSG on a label or the other names I have mentioned.  It is in the percentage of the MSG that is in the ingredient.  I have heard it to be 79% MSG and an even higher %.  But even 79% of say a tablespoon of MSG with 21% being say salt, is simply too much MSG for me.  Then compound that by the fact that many labels have more than 1 of these ie spice and natural flavorings in them.  This is why something that says no MSG can claim that and still have the above mentioned ingredients in it.  It only needs to be called MSG if it is above that required % to say so.
   I would love to just buy whatever I want and not have to worry about being sick after I eat it.  But for now I am an avid label reader.  A supplement I have found to help me is Taurine.  I take it everyday to help with any accidental run in's I may have with MSG.  I am not recommending it for you in any medical capacity, but you may want to check out information on it if you are also someone that cannot tolerate MSG.  I was so happy when I came across that information

For the history of MSG go to http://www.truthinlabeling.org/IVhistoryOfUse.html
As always check back on the Truth in Labeling website for a their up to date list of MSG aliases
http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html


Remember: By food industry definition, all MSG is "naturally occurring." "Natural" doesn't mean "safe."
"Natural" only means that the ingredient started out in nature, like arsenic and hydrochloric acid
until next time
Happy Shopping
Pame

MSG in Rotisserie Chicken

My discovery this week of MSG was at my co-op.  I purchased their rotisserie chicken 2 weeks ago and suspected msg because I had some of the usual symptoms but thought maybe it was just a virus but this week when I ate it I knew for sure, dratts.  So I called the co-op to tell them that I think they are inadvertently putting MSG on their chicken.  They were very helpful and concerned and I think they truly want to find out what ingredient is the problem.  One of the possibilities is sea salt.  We all think that that is a better salt for us but I have heard rumors of msg being introduced into that product in chips etc. so maybe that is the case.  Otherwise it may just be in the spices they are putting on the chicken.  They said they will start making a few without seasoning each day for people and hopefully they'll figure it out so I can enjoy their yummy seasoned chickens as well.
My best advice is education, educate yourself and anyone else that you can.  It is so bad for us and in so much of our food these days.  I've even heard rumors of aspartame and msg blend in soft drinks coming soon.
Remember to check out the ever changing face of msg on the Truth in labeling website.
Until next week
Happy shopping

MSG in my homemade chile

Well I made the mistake of trusting the black beans and possibly the tomatoes last night.  It's always a
learning experience, sometimes I feel like the canary in the mines.
   Anyway I made chile last night with Eden Black Beans, organic beef, onion and Muri Glenn Tomatoes
and there it was that stomach ache of MSG along with the headache, so.....
   Eden Black Beans

Eden Organics Products contain MSG

March 10th, 2009Mike7 comments

Eden Organics Black Beans contain MSG in the form of Kombu "sea tangle"

Eden organics would have you believe that you are eating something organic, healthy and wholesome. But if you know anything at all about MSG (free glutamate) you’d know that simply is not true just by reading their label.

Eden Organics Black Beans

Ingredients
Organic Black Turtle Beans, Water, Kombu Seawood.

“EDEN Organic Black Beans are expertly prepared at our certified organic, circle k kosher cannery in east central Indiana. Beans are washed, soaked overnight and thoroughly cooked with water and a bit of kombu sea vegetable. You don’t taste the kombu, but its natural glutamic acid softens and enhances the flavor of beans. All water that contacts EDEN beans, for washing, soaking, and cooking

Guess I'll have to start using dried black beans to be sure of no msg, I've read other labels for black beans and it's disheartening how many have some sort of additive that is suspect and I am simply getting tired of being sick after eating something I prepare at home.  Remember to check the list on Truth in Labeling website since it is always changing.  It's like trying to hit a moving target and that's what the food industry wants.  If we don't know what it's called we won't know we should avoid it and it tastes soooooo good.

Just keep reading the labels and sending emails or even calling to complain to the companies.  The msg allows them to use inferior tasting products and we think it taste wonderful because our brains are being tricked by the msg.

Until next time

Pame

MSG what can we do to avoid it

I decided to start this blog after years of trying to avoid MSG.  It's getting harder
and harder to do and most people are not even aware they are eating it because
the FDA in their wisdom has classified MSG in a different way so you are eating
it but it's listed as something else rather than msg due to the % of msg in the ingrerdient
If you want to learn more about that I encourage you to go to Truth in Labeling for their
constant updated list of the hidden sources of msg.  I could list a few for you that I seem
to continually find in foods I would have thought were safe;
Glutamic acid (E 620)²,  Glutamate (E 620)

Monosodium glutamate (E 621)

Monopotassium glutamate (E 622)

Calcium glutamate (E 623)

Monoammonium glutamate (E 624)

Magnesium glutamate (E 625)

Natrium glutamate

Yeast extract

Anything “hydrolyzed”

Any “hydrolyzed protein”

Calcium caseinate,  Sodium caseinate

Yeast food, Yeast nutrient

Autolyzed yeast

Gelatin

Textured protein

Soy protein, soy protein concentrate

Soy protein isolate

Whey protein, whey protein concentrate

Whey protein isolate

Anything “…protein”

Vetsin

Ajinomoto

There are many more but this gives you a start.
   I found some of these in my Annies Gluten Free Mac and Cheese although it
was not in all their mac and cheese varieties so you need to be diligent and read
your labels. Even a can of black beans or tomatoes can have it added so read read read.
Don't think you can avoid it by going organic because since glutamic acid is something
naturally found in some fruits and vegies it is allowed to be added in organic foods, remember
Annies.
   I am going to try to do an update of items I find at my local store and co-op on a weekly
basis for you and hopefully that will help others who are trying to avoid msg as well.  I consider
myself lucky because it makes me very sick so I know right away that I have eaten it and can
find the culprit, most people are not getting so obviously sick so they are continuing to eat this
addictive and brain altering ingredient.
   Talk to you after my next shopping trip
Pame